Get The Tech Outta Here

July 2nd, 2014. 21 year old Foris Summers is just waking up from a long night and rolls over to the right side of his bed to grab his phone and start scrolling through the news feeds of his social media. First things he saw was the usuals: friends out partying the night before, one of his little cousins just had a birthday so his aunt was celebrating and a close friend was posting their relationship status while taking a selfie at work. “Good gracious” Foris started with exhaust. “Is anyone ever gonna get a life or is it just gonna be post like I have a life 24/7?”.

Foris rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom to pee. As he started peeing he felt a brief moment of peace where it was almost as if his mind was at peace, this peace was broken by the sound of the notification bell on his phone. He quickly snapped out of his briefly peaceful void and went over to the phone to check his notifications. It was a notification from his Facebook that read “James commented on your status”. Foris then opened up his Facebook app and read the comment that tread “Lol too funny Foris” and then he closed the app. Once again he was feeling annoyed with having checked his Facebook.

When Foris looked out of the bedroom window he saw that the sun was shining bright. He was glad to see it, but the light almost hurt his eyes because it was almost foreign to him. He put on his clothes and a thought suddenly came to mind. “I’m starting to get annoyed with social media and technology, it’s not in and of itself a bad thing, but I’m really starting to feel like it’s all consuming me too much. I wonder what it would feel like to take a break from my uses of technology, not completely of course, but just not using it as much unless I absolutely have to?”

Foris then headed for the front door and went outside. The sun was shining down on him once again, only this time it’s abundance was not painful, but felt more freeing. He shut the front door behind him, locked it and started walking. As Foris slowly started walking he noticed how quiet, yet vibrant everything around him seemed. He looked to his right and saw a pretty female neighbor who was walking her dog. She looked up at him and smiled and he smiled back. Foris then looked to his left and saw an elderly female neighbor who was working in her garden and also had the radio playing from her car. When she looked over and smiled at him Foris smiled back.

As Foris walked across the street he could see something interesting in the wooded area that he had never seen up close before. It was a female deer. The deer who had its nose turned down and into the grass looked up sensing Foris’ presence gradually lifted her head and stared at him in fascination. Foris then slowly started tip toeing towards the deer wondering how close he could get before the deer ran off. Much to his surprise the deer did not move an inch. As Foris got within 20 feet of the deer he stepped on a small branch next to his foot and the deer slowly started to back away into the woods from which it came.

The surprise encounter felt like a rush for Foris. “Yo, that was crazy” he thought. “I gotta share this online” Foris briefly started before stopping himself. He stopped himself from reaching for his phone and clenched his right hand into a fist before he could put it in his pocket. “No” Foris thought to himself. “This was a great moment without technology or social media and I’m not gonna ruin it”. Foris backed away from the woods and continued his walk through the neighborhood, but was suddenly stopped by the image of Mr. Wilkins struggling to walk up the porch to his house.

“Yo Mr. Dub you need some help?” Foris asked. “Eh a little bit” Mr. Wilkins answered while attempted to walk up the steps of his porch. Foris quickly ran over and put one hand on Mr. Foris’ back while holding on to his arm very lightly and helped him up the porch steps. “Normally these steps are food for you, Mr. Dub” Foris joked. “Yeah but that dang surgery’s got me all messed up” Mr. Wilkins replied. “I won’t be a hunter percent again for another two weeks”. “Well it looks like I’ll have to keep an eye on you” Foris added. “I got no problem with that” Mr. Wilkins strained as he sat down in his chair on the porch. “You good from here?” Foris asked. “”Yep, I’m peachy Foris, Preciate your help youngster”. “You got it” Foris replied.

As Foris walked down the steps of the porch he saw a group of joggers headed his way. He recognized the group from his local gym. As soon as they passed him with a smile something clicked in his mind and told him to join them. Foris joined the runners in progress. The feeling of running with them suddenly became euphoric. He was breathing heavy and his heart was racing with joy. This was a newfound freedom that he had never experienced before. He was living in the ever present now and nothing could take that away from him.

Foris briefly stopped to catch his breath. As he leaned over with his hands on his knees catching his breath he thought about how appreciative he was of the world around him. “This is what it feels like to be alive” Foris thought out loud. “No phones, no computers, no social media 24/7. Just you and the beautiful happenings around you is all you need to be content. This is the life I want, so long Technologa”. Foris picked himself back up and rejoined the joggers, grateful for his newfound love of the world.